Emerald

I just got home,still have no voice from booing Scully and the umpires.I enjoyed celebrating the win but now that I've settled down it feels like a pyrrhic victory but I'll take it.

I've done my pre match meditation so I should remain calm when GWS kick the first goal within the first thirty seconds of the first quarter.I'm expecting a high scoring shootout with the Dees prevailing.I'm heading off to the MCG now because I'm sure Metro will have a few surprise delays in stall for me on the Belgrave line. Go Demons!!! 2016 will be like 1987 and it begins now.

This page has given me biggest laugh I've had all week.

There was Capper in the 80's,come to think of it all drafted players should be shown a video of Capper's off field highlights,that would scare them off drugs for the rest of their lives.

I hope big Max's beard doesn't test positive to nicotine.

Well they aint called The Filth for nothing.

At least one team that I hate will lose tonight so I'm happy either way.

Bit worried about 2/3 of the half back line with the GWS midfield coming at them.It might be a goalfest for both sides on Saturday.

At the end of round 1 Melbourne will be on top of the ladder and Richmond will be 9th.

I made the most of my day off and went down to training today, it looked like the whole squad was there. ANB was first to hit the track doing some solo work. The rest of the team started with the usual warm-up lap,sprints,stretches,side step/agility drills. Morale seemed high with plenty of banter between players, most notable from Watts. Peter Jackson made an appearance watching from the sidelines for the first half of training. Once training got into gear: the team was split into two groups, one doing a handball drill and the other a kicking drill sprinting in pairs Dawes and Spencer alternating between boxing and ab-crunches, it looked quite grueling the team split into 3 groups doing old fashioned circuit training but with opponents putting on pressure Gawn and Pedo did boundary throw in ruck training followed by Gawn and Frost doing ball up ruck work, in-between each ruck contest a bit of crumbing work was done by all three a group of about eight went off to the rugby ground (I couldn't see what they did) while the rest of the team split in two and did ball movement drills (McCartney curbing the enthusiasm by yelling "do the drill well but don't clobber eachother") the whole team spilt into two and did goalkicking practice for about ten minutes at both ends of the ground the team was split into 3 groups, two doing ball movement drills at one time while the other had a spell The team was split into specialist groups, midfield/ruck/marking/forwards Overall the team looked good and were moving the ball fast although there was the odd bad decision and fumble. I had been to quite a few training sessions last year and we have improved greatly. One thing I was impressed with was the whole team doing goalkicking. Last year, goalkicking practice involved about five forward players having about ten set shots so it was great to see the whole team kicking at goal in a variety of ways, not just set shots. It seemed Goodwin was running the show more than Roos, with Roos addressing the team as a whole while Goodwin was in the trenches with the players during the drills. There seemed to be a catchphrase of "kick and carry" that was used by McCartney, N. Jones and others during the ball movement drills. One funny moment of Stretch being made to do push-ups military punishment style in front of the team gave his teammates a good laugh, I'm not sure what the reason was for the push-ups. Bring on GWS!

I tried to watch the Roundtable but I turned it off as I found the cameras pointed at the backs of peoples heads non-entertaining.Thanks for filling me in what they had to say about the Dees.

Can you get a Las Vegas playset for Dane Swan and Dustin Martin?

Combine that with what his physique and fitness will be like in 5 years too!

Back to back rising star awards for Melbourne this year with this kid.

I noticed yesterday and at the intra-club game that when Hogan gets frustrated his performance drops.I assume opposition clubs will try and exploit this weakness.He needs to find a technique to anchor his brainwaves from peaking out.During both of the said games,Hogan came good in the last quarter so he needs to analyze what it is that brings him out of the slump and be mindful enough to employ it as soon as things aren't going right.

I was too young to tell back then but it would explain a few things.

I remember sitting in the members stand at VFL Park back in the late 80's.I sat below the commentary booth fascinated that Sandy Roberts would chain smoke throughout the whole game while commentating at the same time.

Today I walked around to the Lockett end of the ground and braved the StKilda bogans to watch our forward line for the 3rd quarter.Watts chased down the ball giving 100% that resulted in the first Jeffy goal in the 3rd quarter.Me and the other 10 Melbourne supporters were the only ones that seemed to appreciate it down that end of the ground.

When McDonald got the ball today,he had a good look before disposing it then kicked the ball to loose teammates.

Fark that's nice seeing Melbourne up the right end of the ladder.

I just got home from the game so I thought I'd give my perspective: The crowds cheer for Watts's 50 meter penalty was genuine,not like the bronx cheers of last year.The best I've ever seen Watts play,for the first time ever I couldn't fault his performance During the first quarter the Saints were killing us around the wing,as soon as they went wide we couldn't stop them and they penetrated our defence Kent's evasive skills are the best in the league.He had a great game,his defensive pressure was intense and his goal in the second quarter was amazing I will not say Oliver will be a star because he already is one We started moving the ball too slow towards the end of the scond quarter that lead to turnovers and goals for the Saints After Jeffy's 2 goals in the third quarter,we seemed to work hard for our goals while the Saints got cheep ones keeping them in the game.We should have had them buried by the end of the third quarter Bugg's mark in the last quarter was amazing Hogan started scoring in the last but his support for the other forwards throughout the match was equally effective although some of these efforts might fly underneath the radar. Just a sidenote about Etihad,a bucket of chips and a coke cost $12 and the gate I exited only had one turnstile with hundreds of people lining up to get out.No wonder everyone hates the place. One more thing,I had to wait at Richmond station for about half an hour for a connecting train.While there I looked over the Melbourne sporting precinct and envisioned Eddie's plan.If it were to happen,Eddiehad stadium would butt up against the MCG and commuters from the eastern suburbs would be delayed for years as the underground railway was built.Eddie obviously has no idea about logistics and I think there maybe something wrong with him.

Being the start of the season before my negativity has set in,I'm envisioning quite a few wins during the first half of the season.That will create a snowball effect that shall carry on to the second half where we will have the momentum,belief and consistency to beat some of the top teams.

I'll be heading down today for my one and only appearance at Etihid for the year.I wouldn't be going if I didn't think we had a chance.I'm also looking forward to buying some merch with the new logo so I can put all my schwab logo merch in the back of the closet with all my other skeletons.

I've already penciled in wins against St kilda,GWS,and the dope fiends so I look forward to the 5 in a row thread in a few weeks.

I remember a few years ago I was supervising a crew at a site in Sunbury.On the way home we decided to have a look at a bridge just outside of town where the final scene of the original Mad Max was filmed.I recall some flattering graffiti about David Schwarz under the bridge which was obviously written by a female. The Ox was awesome on field and awesome giving Sam Newman the shove.